Sepp Blatter downplays US indictment

Re-elected Fifa president Sepp Blatter has sought to downplay the US criminal proceedings launched against officials of world football’s governing body.

Seven officials and associates were arrested in Zurich earlier this week, as Fifa gathered for its congress.

Mr Blatter, 79, described the issue as “infractions” involving a marketing company operating in the Americas.

He is not named in the indictment, and denies having anything to do with an alleged $10m (£6.5m) bribe.

Asked by a reporter at a news conference whether he authorised the payment allegedly relating to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he said: “Definitely, that’s not me.”

And he again questioned the timing of the US prosecutors, saying his organisation “could have been contacted at another time” rather than just before its congress assembled.

“I don’t see how Fifa should have been directly affected by this,” he said.

Mr Blatter beat Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan in Friday’s election, and is starting his fifth four-year term as president.

Members of the media stand in front of the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, on 30 May 2015

Analysis: Alex Capstick, BBC Sport, Zurich

It was almost business as usual for Sepp Blatter after defying the worst crisis in Fifa’s history to win a fifth term as its president.

Addressing the international press for the first time since the latest scandal flared up in such dramatic fashion, he was calm and assured as he refused to accept that he was responsible for the culture of corruption which has damaged Fifa’s reputation.

Convincing the sponsors has become a top priority, but with further indictments from the US investigation a distinct possibility, and the ongoing probe in Switzerland into the allocation of the 2018 and the 2022 World Cups, his problems are from over.

BBC

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